Archive for the 'Dieter Horton' Tag Under 'USC' Category

USC announced the official hiring of Tony Bland and Jason Hart as assistant basketball coaches to new Coach Andy Enfield on Friday.

Bland, formerly an assistant at San Diego State, and Hart, formerly an assistant at Pepperdine, officially replace Bob Cantu (who served as interim coach before Enfield's hiring) and Tony Miller. The status of assistant coach Dieter Horton is still to be determined. Enfield could still either retain Horton or replace him with another hiring.

Bland, 33, and Hart, 34, have a shared history. They both played at Westchester High (Hart also played at Inglewood) and at Syracuse (Bland also played at San Diego State). Both are considered strong recruiters.

''We are extremely excited to welcome Tony and Jason to the USC coaching staff,'' Enfield said in a statement released by USC. ''Both men grew up in Los Angeles and have been successful players, mentors and coaches. Tony and Jason will be a big part of our future successes as we build the Trojan program.''

Bob Cantu, who served as USC's interim basketball coach for three months this season and was an assistant coach for 12 years, will not be retained by new Coach Andy Enfield, Cantu confirmed Saturday night.

The Trojans went 7-8 after Cantu took over for fired Coach Kevin O'Neill in mid-December, including a loss to Utah in the first round of the Pac-12 Conference Tournament.

Enfield, hired Monday, is reportedly interested in hiring San Diego State assistant Tony Bland as one of his assistants. The status of O'Neill's other former assistants, Dieter Horton and Tony Miller, was not immediately known.

USC coach Kevin O'Neill has completed the reconfiguration of his staff, hiring former Fullerton College coach Dieter Horton and promoting holdover assistant Bob Cantu to associate head coach.

Horton led Fullerton to a state junior-college championship and Antelope Valley College to a runner-up finish.

Here's the complete release from USC:

LOS ANGELES – Dieter Horton, who guided Fullerton College to an undefeated season and a California junior college championship and then led Antelope Valley College to a runner-up state finish, was named an assistant coach at USC, Trojan men's basketball head coach Kevin O'Neill announced today (April 8).

O'Neill also announced that Bob Cantu, a Trojan assistant the past nine seasons, has been promoted to associate head coach.